An interesting presentation was opened this morning by Adani CEO ? Australia, Jeyakumar Janakaraj at the Infrastructure Association of Queensland members breakfast.
The focus of JJ’s keynote showcased Adani’s long-term view, particularly the commercial relationship between India and Australia and future investment in Australia beyond the Carmichael project.
India’s growth ? driven by demand not policy
JJ delivered the hard facts of India’s energy demand. India currently has 17% of the world’s population, 4% of the word’s land and 2% of the world’s water. The country faces and the ongoing challenge of providing and securing basic access to food, water and electricity to a growing population. Currently, approximately 30% of India’s population is without access to electricity.
With a population of approximately 1.2 billion people. India has upward of 800 million people under 35. In addition to population growth, India is still experiencing strong economic growth, with GDP at 7.5%.
These factors drive Adani’s strategic plan and diversified portfolio: services, logistics, agriculture and energy.
The North Galilee Basin Rail project
So far, Adani has invested over AUD $3.2 billion in Queensland to advance the project and purchase of the Abbott Port.
Included in this is the proposed greenfield, multi-user rail line with 100Mtpa capacity under a pit to port business strategy. This particular project is part of their broader strategy to set up the Carmichael Coal Mine with the North Galilee Basin Rail and the Abbot Point Port the company leased in May 2011.
What’s next
These projects will be the Queensland mining industry’s first developments in four to five years. What this means for the State’s engineering consultancies is a chance to be involved in design and delivery of large-scale projects and opportunities to be more heavily involved in regional areas. There is also a flow-on effect for the agriculture industry in Australia according to JJ’s objectives for a stronger Australian-India trade relationship.
Over the next few months, the landscape around how the projects move forward should become more clear.